The map shows where you can see the solar eclipse across the United States

Some of the most amazing astronomical events that can be seen from Earth are solar eclipses, when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun and blocks some or all of the sunlight. The resulting darkness during the day is great and can make for some stunning views – although, for safety reasons, you should never look directly at the sun and you should use A tool such as a pinhole camera to observe the eclipse instead.

However, these eclipses occur on a rather complicated schedule related to the moon’s orbit, so it’s hard to keep track of when and where you’ll see eclipses. To help with this, NASA has created a map of the United States that shows when and where you can see solar eclipses in 2023 and 2024.

the The map is complete It shows the next two annual solar eclipses and when you’ll need to look for them based on your location and time zone. The areas that will witness a solar eclipse are long and narrow bands due to the path left by the moon’s shadow on Earth. These are the areas where the sun will appear to be completely eclipsed, although those outside these areas will be able to see a partial eclipse – where the moon blocks part of the sun’s disk, but not the entire face.

The lucky skywatchers in San Antonio, Texas, will be able to see both the 2023 and 2024 eclipses, which will occur on October 14, 2023 and April 8, 2024.

The map was created by Michala Garrison, a member of the Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS) at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, to help inform people about eclipses so they don’t miss opportunities to capture these exciting events.

Garrison said statement. “But I didn’t know any of that at the time. It makes me want to go to Albuquerque for example.” [New Mexico] In 2023. And then, in 2024, to go south.”

She said that creating the map so that it was both useful and attractive took several revisions. “It took a lot of trial and error. I wanted it to be helpful to the reader, but not overwhelming — and still a great product to look at to get people’s attention.”

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